Cryotherapy, which is the application of cold to an injured area, is a treatment used to manage the magnitude of the inflammatory process, blood flow, initial swelling, secondary injury and pain. The use of ice packs is widespread because of their effectiveness, convenience, low cost, and ease of transportation.
Several approaches have been taken to apply cold therapeutic wraps to a sore muscle or joint after a workout or injury. The typical methods of providing this type of cold therapy involve filling a bag with ice, applying the bag of ice to a part of the body and wrapping the bag onto the body with an elastic bandage or plastic wrap similar to that used for packing. In athletic activities involving teams of individuals, multiple team members may enter the locker room at the same time, overwhelming the team trainer, who must attend to a large number of athletes within a narrow window of time when it is critical to apply the ice as quickly as possible. In this situation, a quickly filled, easily applied method of administering cold therapy is essential. An important component of ice therapy involves application of compression at the target area, i.e., the joint or muscle to be treated, to induce vasoconstriction to limit inflammation and swelling and reduce pain. Thus, simply laying the ice bag on top of the area is not sufficient to obtain the full benefit of the cold therapy—a securing means must be used. Another important feature of the wrap is the ability of the athlete to move around without removing or displacing the ice bag or losing the compression at the desired area.
A number of devices for applying ice to injuries or to prevent injuries have been described in patents. Hubbard et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,848) and Inman et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,666) each disclose a small disposable ice pack with two pairs of tie strings for tying the ice bag onto a limb. The small bag further includes a closure to keep the ice within the bag. While this design provides a disposable ice bag that can be secured to a body part, the simple strings cannot be tied in a way to apply adequate compression to the target area, nor can they ensure that the ice will stay in place if the person moves around. Furthermore, if the cold therapy is to be applied to an arm, the assistance of a second person is required because the person receiving treatment would be unable to tie the strings himself or herself.
Natali (U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,387) discloses a cold pack for wrapping injured limbs, which consists of rectangular layers of thermoplastic sheet with one or more bags formed at one end of the rectangle and a wing with an adhesive strip at the other end. The bag is filled with ice and the wing is wrapped around the arm or leg and secured in place with the adhesive strip. While this invention provides a disposable ice bag that can be secured to the limb, because it is formed from plastic sheet and does not stretch, it is not capable of applying focused compression at the target site, nor will it stay in place if the person moves around. The adhesive strip allows minimal re-positioning of the bag once the wing is adhered onto the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,437 of Maxim describes a self-adhering cold pack that includes an adhesive on the bottom side of a layered structure that includes a bag for retaining a cooling agent. The light adhesive on the bottom of the bag is intended to stick directly to the user's skin. Such a design may be helpful for simple cold therapy, but it is incapable of applying a focused compression and further has the disadvantage of a single use.
Reid, Jr. et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,830,582) discloses a thermal wrap for body member. Embodiments of this invention include a bag with straps having adhesive backed strips, and a bag with a wing having adhesive on one end. While this invention provides a disposable ice bag that can be secured to the user, like Natali, the design suffers the drawbacks of the previously-described devices. The straps of the first embodiment, like the tie strings, cannot maintain compression where needed and will not hold the bag in place when the person moves. In the single winged configuration, because the wing is non-elastic, it will not apply a focused compression and would not stay in position when the person moves. The adhesive strips allow minimal re-positioning of the bag once they are adhered onto the bag.
Bride-Flynn (U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,705) discloses a disposable ice pack that is similar in basic design to the packs described by Hubbard et al. and Inman et al., having a bag with pairs of straps or strings extending from the bag's corners. This design, therefore, suffers the same drawbacks that the Hubbard et al. and Inman et al. designs do.
Other approaches to devices for applying cold therapy include gels and other chemical cooling agents that are enclosed within a bandage-like structure and activated by breaking a seal between compartments holding the reactants. While such devices may be useful for short term cold therapy, athletes and others who require repeated continuous application of ice for relatively long periods of time, e.g., 20 minutes of every hour for several hours, they are quite impractical and potentially dangerous since the temperature may not be well controlled and can result in frostbite if held in place for extended periods. Furthermore, such products are for single use only, and not for repeated uses.
The need remains for a cold therapy apparatus that is quickly filled, quickly applied, capable of applying focused compression, reusable for a number of applications while still being disposable. The ideal device would further be cost effective to produce and dispense to allow for optimal efficiency in use and convenience. The present invention is directed to such a need.